Song of Shadow
by faithwinchester
Summary: AU crossover with SPN, When a sixteen year old Sam Winchester has a vision, he leaves his family behind and meets up with Faith who is on the run from Kakistos
1. Chapter 1

Title: Song of Shadow

Author: faithwinchester

Pairing: none as of yet

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: through Simon Says for SPN (though none of those events actually happen), and eventually the whole series of Buffy

Author's Notes: This is a AU which should eventually cover from the beginning of Buffy season 3 through the end of season 7, with changes made by the inclusion of Sam Winchester

Summary: A sixteen-year-old Sam Winchester has a vision of his future self, who tells him that to keep his painful future from coming to pass he must leave John and Dean that night. When he does, he meets Faith, who is heading towards Sunnydale and away from Kakistos.

Prologue

The images were blurred as they raced past Sam's eyes, a fact that he was grateful for. His father yelling at him that if he walked out the door he shouldn't bother coming back. A beautiful blonde girl on the ceiling, engulfed in flames and pleading with her eyes for his help. A slightly older and paler Dean, lying in a hospital bed with no hope in his eyes. His father again, this time with demonic yellow eyes and an evil grin as he ripped into Dean's flesh. Dean in another hospital bed, a tube down his throat breathing for him.

His father's body lying on the hospital room floor morphed into what Sam knew was his father's funeral pyre. That image shifted into a vision of Dean, a sniper rifle shoved under his chin and a peaceful expression on his face. Other images flew past before they resolved into a picture that almost broke Sam's heart: the demon, still somehow in their father's guise was dead, but so was Dean. And then Sam saw himself, broken and bleeding, apparently preparing to follow Dean in death.

"It doesn't have to be this way, you know."

Sam whirled around and came face to face with himself. It was an older him, with new scars and an entire universe of pain in his eyes, but it was still Sam. "What do you mean?"

The older him waved his hand at the now-frozen scene behind them. "This is what will happen if you don't change things. I know, because it already did happen...to me. But it wasn't supposed to."

Sam frowned in confusion. "How do you know that it wasn't supposed to happen? Not that I want it to happen, or anything."

"The PTB's, the Powers That Be, wouldn't have given me a chance to fix things if there wasn't something to fix." He smiled somewhat cynically. "Besides, they figure that this way they can fix several problems all at once. Kind of a buy one, get four free sale. There's only one catch." He paused, meeting Sam's eyes steadily. "You have to leave Dean and Dad, tonight."

Sam just blinked in disbelief for a moment. "Leave? Just like that? Why?"

The older Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's part of the other things the Powers are fixing while they're fixing this. If you don't help to fix the other problems, then you can't fix these, either. It's not fair, but that's the way it is."

If it had been coming from anyone else, Sam wouldn't have believed them for a second. But he knew himself, and he couldn't imagine anything happening that would make him ask this without a damn good reason. So he closed his eyes, sighed and nodded. "Where am I going?"

Older Sam sort of shrugged his shoulders and smiled apologetically. "That I can't tell you. You'll know when you get there."

Sam snorted. Apparently he got cryptic when he got older. Everything started fading then, his vision going black as he heard Older Sam say one last thing.

"Everything will work out for the best. You'll see. I promise."

Sam's eyes snapped open as he sat straight up in bed with a soft gasp. He glanced over at the other bed, relieved when he saw that Dean was still sound asleep. He slipped out of bed, wide awake now that the image of his father and brother dying was burning behind his eyes. He got dressed in silence, careful not to wake Dean. He couldn't do this if Dean was awake and asking questions. He could barely manage to do it as it was.

He packed a bag with the essentials; a few changes of clothes, his knives and various other weapons as well as a supply of rock salt and holy water. He hesitated for a moment before stuffing one of Dean's dirty shirts into the bag as well. He didn't think his brother would miss it, and he didn't even know why he was taking it, just that it felt right.

He paused long enough in the small kitchen to write a note, thankful for once that John was out on a hunt and not expected back for another day. Then he hitched his bag onto his shoulder, took one last look around the apartment that he knew he would never see again and slipped quietly out the door.

Since he had no idea where he was going he simply picked a direction and started walking, hoping that he would find something soon that would let him know that he was going the right way. He hadn't gotten very far at all when he heard the sounds of fighting, and if he strained his ears he could just barely make out what sounded like several voices chanting. Sam picked up his pace as he headed towards the noise, dropping his bag and pulling a knife from his boot when he realized that several demons of some sort were ganging up on a girl about his age.

He jumped into the fray, knife flashing as he sliced his way towards the dark-haired girl who grinned and winked at him when their eyes met for a moment. An instant later they were back to back, ducking and twisting with an odd kind of rhythm. It only took a few minutes for them to kill most of the demons, but the fact that the ones that were still alive hadn't stopped chanting the entire time made Sam nervous.

"What are they doing?" He turned his head just in time to see the girl shrug.

"No idea, stud. I just wandered in, they saw me and started jabbering." She threw one of her knives, hitting one of the remaining demons in the throat. "I doubt they're saying anything good, though."

Eventually there was only one of the demons left. It grinned at them, sharp-looking teeth flashing as he practically screamed out the words to the chant one last time. Then it lunged at them, impaling itself on Sam's knife.

Sam and the girl just blinked at it for a moment before a fog began to rise from the body, quickly enveloping them. Before they could even start to move the fog compressed around them before exploding in a flash of light and knocking them both to the ground.

After a long moment Sam managed to push himself up from the ground, one hand pressed to his suddenly-aching head. He blinked the afterimage of the flash from his eyes and glanced around until he saw the girl who was also slowly pushing herself up.

"Um, Faith? Did you just sort of...?"

She chuckled wryly. "Live your entire life in about two seconds? Sure did, Sammy. Nice life you've had, too, by the way."

He nodded gingerly, slowly getting to his feet and trying not to wobble too much. "Yeah, yours looks like a walk in the park, too, Faith." He paused for a moment, staring down at the bodies of the demons they had killed. "Is it just me, or did it look like they were trying to do this on purpose?"

Faith nodded. "Not just you, stud. I don't know why they'd want to, though. You have any ideas?"

Sam shook his head, bending down to wipe the majority of the demon blood of off his knives. "Not a clue. Guess we'll just have to wait and see if anything else happens." He looked around the dark alley, checking for any clues as to the demons' purpose and not finding anything. He sighed. "So, what now?"

She frowned as she retrieved her knife, making a face at the sound it made as she pulled it from the demon's body. "Well, the other you in the vision said you'd know where you were going when you got there, right? This looks kinda like a smack in the face to me, Sammy boy."

Sam just looked at her in silence for a moment, ignoring the nickname for the time being, his vision of her life letting him see the hint of fragility behind her tough-girl facade. So with a mental shrug, he nodded. "Yeah, it sort of does, doesn't it? So, we're heading for Sunnydale, then?"

Faith smiled, tucking her knives back into wherever she had been carrying them before. "Sure are, stud. Hellmouth, here we come."


	2. Chapter 2

Song of Shadow

faithwinchester

Chapter One

When Dean woke up the next morning he could tell that something was wrong before he even opened his eyes. A moment later he realized what it was: the apartment was too quiet. The normal sounds of Sam getting his breakfast or checking over his homework were missing. His eyes snapped open at that thought and he glanced around the bedroom, instantly cataloging all the things that were missing.

Most of Sam's clothes were gone, as well as his favorite weapons. Dean shot out of bed, completely ignoring the fact that he was only wearing his boxers. Some of Sam's things were also missing from the bathroom and the living room, and when Dean made his way into the kitchen his eyes focused instantly on the note sitting innocently on the table.

He simply stared at it for a long moment, almost afraid to pick it up and read it, as if it wasn't real so long as he didn't touch it. Eventually he forced himself to reach out and grab it, taking a deep breath before starting to read.

The note was short, to the point, and as far as Dean was concerned completely useless in telling him just where his brother had gone. There was no explanation, no mention of where he was going or why, no nothing. Only an apology.

'I'm sorry, but I have to go. It's for the best, and I hope that someday you'll realize that. Sam.'

Dean was still staring at the note ten minutes later when the door to the apartment opened. He jerked his head up, desperately hoping that it was Sam coming back after all. His face fell when he realized that it was John, finally back from his latest hunt.

John took one look at Dean and frowned. "What's wrong, son? And where's Sammy?"

Dean wordlessly handed the note to his father, wincing slightly as John's expression darkened. He had lost his brother and disappointed his father, and if anything could happen to make the situation even worse, he didn't know what it could possibly be, and didn't particularly want to know, either.

"When did he leave, Dean?"

Dean shrugged as he tried to make himself look smaller without actually moving. "Sometime last night, I guess. He was there when I went to bed, but he was already gone when I woke up. I'm sorry."

John growled, his expression wavering from pride in Sam's ability to get out of the apartment without waking Dean to anger that Sam had just up and vanished to fear at not only what could have possibly convinced his youngest that disappearing was a good idea in the first place but also the kinds of trouble he could get into before they tracked him down. He dropped his hunting bag on the floor and crooked his finger at Dean.

"Come on, son. Let's go find your brother before he gets himself into even more trouble than he's already in."

But after three hours of increasingly frantic searching both Winchester men had to admit that Sam was nowhere to be found. The town they were currently living in wasn't that big and there were only so many places that Sam could be, and he wasn't in any of them. There wasn't even a bus station, which meant that either Sam had simply picked a direction and started walking or he had thrown caution to the wind and decided to hitchhike, one of the things that John had always made sure that the boys would never do.

Either way, John had no idea of how to find him. His sixteen-year-old son was who-knows-where, doing who-knows-what, and there wasn't a single thing that John and Dean could do about it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sam and Faith had walked for the rest of the night, trying to get used to the idea that someone else had intimate knowledge of their lives. The only thing that made their strange circumstances bearable was the fact that they were both in the same boat. They hadn't managed to come to any real conclusions about just what the group of demons had been intending to do, though they weren't ignoring the very real possibility that the demons had been sent somehow by the PTBs to do exactly what they had.

Eventually they had turned the conversation to what they were going to do once they reached Sunnydale and the other Slayer.

"So, Sam, do we tell the Watcher about our demon buddies, or not?"

Sam frowned in thought, hitching his bag higher onto his shoulder. "Something tells me that we shouldn't. I mean, we want their help with Kakistos, right?" He waited for Faith to nod and politely ignored her slight flinch at the master vampire's name. "Then telling them that a group of demons did something to us and messed with our heads might not be such a good idea, at least not until we know them better and can predict how they'll react."

Faith snorted, but nodded in agreement. "So, if we don't tell 'em about our little life sharing thing, how'll we explain..." She waved her hand between them as she tried to find the word she wanted to describe their odd relationship.

Sam just shrugged. "Say I'm your cousin. I was planning on changing my last name anyway to make it harder for Dad and Dean to find me." His expression darkened, and he was just gearing up for a really good brooding session when Faith bumped his shoulder just hard enough to knock him slightly off balance.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Though you don't really look like a Lehane, I suppose you'll do."

Sam smiled, shifting to bump Faith's shoulder in thanks. Faith hated chick flick moments about as much as Dean did, and it gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach that she was willing to at least occasionally suffer through a small one to make him feel better. In fact, part of the reason he was so comfortable with Faith, ignoring the whole life sharing thing, was probably that she was really a lot like Dean. If the two ever met they would more than likely either love or loathe each other on sight.

In appreciation, he decided to change the subject. "So, what do you think the other Slayer is like?"

Faith shrugged, cocking her head to the side. "No idea. I know she wasn't found by the Council til after she'd been called, so she's not all stuffy and British-like, but Maddie didn't say much else about her. We were planning on heading down to check things out on the Hellmouth sometime, but then Kakistos showed up."

Sam hesitated for a moment, then shifted just close enough that his arm brushed Faith's as they walked. "Tell me about her?"

Faith shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and hunched her shoulders slightly. "Why? You already know everything that I do about her."

"I know. I'd like to hear you tell me anyway."

Faith glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, then slowed her steps a bit. "She was the first person who ever gave a damn about me. She was more of a mother than mine ever was, even when she could bother to pull herself out of the bottle. And I let that monster kill her."

Sam sighed, slowly wrapping an arm around Faith's shoulders. "You didn't let anyone do anything. It wasn't your fault." He paused for a moment. "If it had happened to someone else, if it had been me there instead, would you have thought that it was my fault?"

Faith was quiet for a long moment. "No."

"If there had been any way to save her, you would have done it. But there was nothing you could do. Would she have wanted you to blame yourself?"

Faith shook her head. "No." She chuckled weakly. "Maddie would have kicked my ass, and then made me recite whole passages out of the Slayer's Guide."

Sam smiled. "So if she wouldn't blame you, why are you blaming yourself?"

Faith just shrugged again, pretending that she didn't appreciate the fact that Sam's arm was still around her shoulders. "Can't help it, Sam. It's getting better, but it won't be gone til Kakistos is dead."

"I know. I'm looking forward to helping you kill him, actually. I'm working on some ideas to make it long and painful."

Faith glanced over at him and smiled at the slightly blood-thirsty expression on Sam's face. "Sounds like a plan, stud. Let me know if you need any help. I've got a few ideas of my own."

After a few minutes Sam finally let his arm slip off of Faith's shoulders and smiled slightly at her fairly evident relief. It really was a lot like dealing with Dean, though he would never make the mistake of automatically thinking that what worked with Dean would work with Faith. That thought suddenly brought his situation back to the front of his mind and he frowned.

He had only been gone for a few hours and he already missed his brother and father like crazy, even though he and John had been fighting even more often lately than they ever had before. His new relationship with Faith was nice, certainly, and he would enjoy being her cousin, but it in no way took the place of his relationship with Dean.

He trusted his older self that his leaving was necessary, and he would do anything to make sure that Dean and John were safe, but that didn't mean that he had to like it.


	3. Chapter 3

Song of Shadow

faithwinchester

Chapter Two

It was late afternoon when Sam and Faith finally arrived in Sunnydale. They had caught a bus once they were a town away from the other Winchesters, partially due to the fact that the town they had been in had no bus station and partially due to the fact that it would make it harder for John and Dean to find them. They had wandered around for a bit, getting a room in a motel that was just this side of sleazy but all they could afford. Then they headed for the local hot spot, the Bronze.

As soon as they entered Faith hit the dance floor, calling over her shoulder that Sam should get them some drinks. He just shook his head with a chuckle and made his way to the bar, ordering them both Cokes. Then he went to stand against the wall where he could keep an eye on Faith.

It only took a moment for him to realize that the boy she was dancing with was a vampire, and a very poorly dressed one at that. Also apparently a fairly stupid vampire since no matter how hard Faith tried to look like bait she never lost the dangerous edge that showed that she was a hunter. Since she seemed to have the vampire situation well under control he took the opportunity to glance around the club, zeroing in on the small group of people who were staring at Faith, and not in the way he would have expected from the provocative way that she was dancing.

He snorted under his breath. It looked like they had found the other Slayer without even looking for her. And when Faith left the club with the vampire in tow and they all followed, he was certain. So he slipped out the side, close enough to watch and help if he was needed but not so close that he was in the way.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Faith was pounding on the unfortunate vampire, and seemed to be having the time of her life. She knew that Sam was watching her back, so she felt free enough to take her time and let out some of her pent-up aggression. She flashed a smile when she noticed the blonde girl she had pegged as the other Slayer from the club coming around the corner with her friends behind her, ready to save her.

She slammed her head back into the vampire's face, grinning at the sound of his nose breaking. "Hi. You must be Buffy." She nearly burst out laughing at the confounded expression on the other girl's face.

The vampire reached for her again, and she grabbed his arm and flung him back into the chain link fence, then snagged the silent-Buffy's stake. "Mind if I borrow this?" Then she spun and slammed the stake into the vampire's heart, rolling her shoulders as he burst into a cloud of dust. She twirled the stake in her hand for a moment before tossing it back to Buffy.

"Thanks for the loan. I'm Faith." She cracked her neck, and then glanced over into the shadows. "Hey, Sammy, you still got my drink?"

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Sam couldn't help but laugh at their shocked expressions as he walked out and handed Faith one of the cups he was holding. "Well, that was a bit of a let-down. I was expecting a bit more of a fight from a Hellmouth vampire."

Faith took a long gulp from her cup. "Yeah, he was totally lame. I could have dusted him in my sleep." She turned towards Buffy with an easy grin. "So, there anything else to do in this town, B?"

Buffy and the others just looked at them in confusion. Finally Xander managed to speak. "Um, who's your friend, Faith, and why was he lurking in the shadows? That's usually not a good sign here in good old Sunnyhell."

Sam just snorted. "I didn't want to get in the way, but I figured that I'd watch Faith's back, just in case."

Faith swaggered over and threw her arm around Sam's waist. "Sammy here's my cousin, and he decided that he wanted to come with me to meet ya, Buff."

It was fairly obvious to Sam that the blonde Slayer didn't believe them, though she didn't say anything about it. She was trying to hide the suspicion in her expression, but as far as Sam was concerned it wasn't working very well.

Which was fine, since he and Faith weren't really planning on keeping the slight deception going for all that long anyway. Either Buffy and her friends would prove to be trustworthy, in which case they could explain at least some of their rather odd circumstances. Or they wouldn't be trustworthy, and he and Faith would hit the road again as soon as Kakistos was dead and dust.

Either way, so long as the master vampire was dead, it didn't really matter to Sam what Buffy and her friends thought or did.

Sam kept mostly quiet as the small group headed back into the Bronze, letting Faith have fun shocking the others with her slightly embellished tales of slaying exploits. It was nice to see her enjoying herself, especially since they would need to tell Buffy's Watcher about Kakistos in the morning, something that neither he nor Faith were looking forward to.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The next day came sooner than either of them had really wanted, and Sam was dragging as he and Faith made their way to the high school library. He glared half-heartedly at Faith as she walked beside him with absolutely no evidence that she was running on about two hours sleep. He knew perfectly well that it was simply thanks to her Slayer metabolism, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be jealous.

Buffy and her friends were already there when they arrived, and it was painfully obvious that they were having some sort of deep discussion that none of them wanted to share with the newcomers. Since Sam could understand their feelings he ignored the tension in the room and turned his attention to studying Buffy's Watcher.

On the surface the older man looked like a stereotypical stuffy Englishman, but Sam had the feeling that Rupert Giles had hidden depths, something that would come in quite handy if he and Faith decided to stay in Sunnydale. He was pulled out of his study when he realized that Giles had asked the one question they had managed to avoid.

"Faith, I must admit that I'm curious, where is your Watcher?"

Faith flinched, and when she glanced over at Sam he nodded at her and moved to stand close enough to give her some support but not so close that she would feel like he was crowding her. And he couldn't help but flash her a small, proud smile when she took a deep breath and answered.

"She's dead. A master vampire named Kakistos tortured her and killed her...and he's coming after me next."


	4. Chapter 4

Song of Shadow

faithwinchester

Chapter Three

The library was deathly silent for a moment before everyone began speaking at once. After a moment of chaos Sam whistled shrilly through his teeth, and felt a hint of pride at the way everyone suddenly stopped talking and turned to stare at him, except for Faith who was giving him a small, relieved smile.

Giles was the first one to recover, pulling off his glasses and polishing them on the tail of his shirt. "Kakistos, did you say?" When Sam and Faith both nodded, he grimaced. "Oh, dear."

"What's up with the 'oh, dearing,' Giles? Who's this Khaki guy anyway?"

Sam had to hold back a snort at the disgruntled look Giles flashed Buffy at that. "Kakistos is Greek, meaning the worst of the worst." He headed into the stacks, coming back quickly with an old book that he opened almost immediately to the correct page. "Kakistos is also a vampire so old that his hands and feet are cloven." He turned back to Faith. "Are you certain that he is coming here, Faith?"

She nodded, leaning a bit into Sam when he put an arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, I'm sure, Rupert. I gave him a wicked scar across his face when I ran for it after he killed Maddie, and I heard him screaming that he was gonna find me and bathe in my blood."

Keeping his arm loosely around Faith, Sam glanced around the library to see how everyone else was taking her story. Willow and Xander looked to be sympathetic and Giles seemed to be as well, but it was Buffy's reaction that surprised him. The dumb blonde expression had faded as if it had never been, and her eyes were dark with remembered pain. For the moment, at least, the senior Slayer seemed to be firmly on their side.

"We'll keep our eyes open, and we'll find him before he finds you, Faith. Nobody is bathing in anybody's blood on my watch."

Sam felt Faith deflate a bit at Buffy's ringing endorsement, though he knew that none of the others would have been able to see it. He wasn't exactly certain why the blonde was so firmly on Faith's side all of a sudden, though he thought that there was something in Faith's memories about hearing that Buffy's first Watcher had been killed as well, which would explain her attitude shift.

He couldn't help but be a bit impressed when the serious warrior suddenly vanished, leaving a stereotypical dumb blonde in its wake as Buffy glanced down at her watch and then raced out of the library, saying something about an English exam over her shoulder as she hurried out the door. He glanced over at Willow and Xander, both of whom had indulgent smiles on their faces, and when they volunteered to show him and Faith around the school he simply nodded. They didn't have anything else to do for the moment, and being around other people was helping to keep Faith distracted.

"Over here we have the cafeteria, where we were mauled by snakes."

Sam stared at Willow at that statement, eyes wide. "Mauled by snakes? Really?"

She nodded excitedly. "Yep. And over there is where Spike and his gang nearly killed us all on Parent-Teacher night."

That seemed to peak Faith's interest. "Spike? Like William the Bloody, Spike? Part of the Scourge of Europe, Spike?"

Xander nodded. "Oh, yeah. We've had the whole Scourge here at one time or another, and let me tell you there was no fun to be had with them at all." His eyes darkened, though the goofy smile was still on his face. "But Darla's dust and Angel's in hell, so there's only Spike and Drusilla left."

"Sounds like you guys have had an interesting high school career." Sam couldn't help but be impressed with Xander and Willow. They had no special powers and no training, but fought anyway simply because it was the right thing to do. In a way, they reminded him of some of the best parts of Dean.

Xander laughed. "You have no idea. And they say that young people don't learn anything in school anymore. I, however, have learned to be afraid."

Sam smiled when Faith laughed. "Oh, you guys are a hoot. I wish I'd had friends like you back in Boston."

Willow's smile at that practically lit up her face. "Well, you have friends like that now, Faith. And Buffy and Giles, and maybe even Cordelia, as much as she's friends with anybody. You too, Sam."

Sam couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm, even as he felt a dull pain somewhere in the vicinity of his heart. He had always wanted friends like them, but never at the expense of his family. Dean had been his best friend for his entire life, even when he was acting like an ass, and Sam hated the fact that he had no idea when he would be able to see him again.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Dinner that night with Buffy and her mother was uncomfortable. It was obvious to Sam that the relationship between the two women was somewhat strained, though it was also obvious that both of them were trying their best to push past it. Joyce was also extremely interested in Faith, though Sam was fairly certain that he knew why. Joyce thought that having Faith around would make things safer for Buffy, and Sam couldn't blame her for feeling that way.

"So, Faith, where are you and Sam staying?"

Faith took a long drink of her soda before answering. "Sammy and I have a room in a motel down on the other side of town. It's not much, but we don't have a lot of money and the rent's cheap."

At that Joyce sat up straight and frowned. "You can't stay down there. Slayer or not it's just not safe." She crossed her arms and nodded firmly. "The two of you can go and pick up your things, then you will stay here for the night. Then tomorrow we will go and talk to Mr. Giles about getting the two of you some better living arrangements."

Sam blinked in confusion, completely unprepared for Joyce's very firm statement. "Really, Mrs. Summers, that isn't necessary. We'll be fine where we are, and we wouldn't want to put you out."

"Nonsense. Faith can sleep in the spare room, and the couch is really quite comfortable. But I will not allow the two of you to stay in one of those filthy motels that rent rooms by the hour one minute longer."

Sam just looked at Faith, who was staring back at him with wide eyes. Joyce was acting like a mother tiger defending her cubs, and that was something that neither of them was at all familiar with, and thus they had no idea how to deal with her. It was quite disconcerting.

After a moment of tense silence, Buffy sighed. "Mom's right. It really isn't safe on that side of town, and I don't mean just the vampires. We can stop off and get your stuff on the way back from patrol."

Faith just shrugged, though Sam could tell she was trying to appear much more at ease with the whole situation than she really was. Sam sighed. Even though he didn't have any experience with protective mothers, he could tell that Joyce would not be swayed.

"All right. We'll stay here for the night, if you're sure we won't be a burden."

Joyce just smiled and spooned some more food on both of their plates. "Really, it's not trouble and it would make me feel better. Now eat up. You both look too thin."

- - - - - - - - - -

Patrol was fairly quiet. Buffy and Faith staked two vampires each, and Buffy only made comments about Sam accompanying them three times. Sam knew that Buffy didn't know that he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, that he had been trained to hunt since he was old enough to know what hunting was, but he couldn't help but feel slighted somewhat.

They had just made it back to the motel when a group of vampires suddenly appeared out of the shadows, attacking as a cohesive unit rather than the more chaotic fumblings that was common to vampires on the Hellmouth. Sam was quickly separated from the two Slayers and slammed into the wall, luckily managing to hold onto his stake. As he shoved it into the vampire's heart, the words he heard just before it turned to dust had his heart pounding.

"For Kakistos we live. For Kakistos we die."

He glanced over at Buffy and Faith, both of whom were focused completely on the vampires they were fighting, and then he noticed movement over in the shadows. When the figure stepped into the light, Sam's eyes widened and he reached blindly for the pistol that was tucked into the waistband of his pants.

"Faith, it's Kakistos!" He saw her jerk, and when she automatically looked over at him, Sam tossed her the gun and waved his arm towards the ancient vampire. "Shoot him!"

Sam could see her arms shaking slightly as she turned to face the smirking vampire, fear evident on her face.

"Little girl, do you really think that thing will hurt me?" Kakistos laughed. "Two Slayers for the price of one. The two of you will taste so sweet, just like that Watcher of yours."

Faith's expression hardened, her hands went still and the gun stopped shaking. "You wanna bet?" She emptied the gun into the vampire's chest, tension almost flowing out of her body as his eyes widened just before he exploded into a cloud of dust. She closed her eyes for a moment, then flashed a stunned Buffy a weak smile. "Consecrated iron rounds. Guaranteed to turn any vampire into dust, or your money back."

With the other vampires either dust or running away, Sam just walked gingerly up to Faith and gently took the gun back. "You did good, Faith. How about we get our stuff, head back to Buffy's house and see if we can find something to snack on?"

Faith nodded, taking a deep breath when Buffy put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Sounds like a plan, Sammy. I could eat a horse. How about you, B?"

Buffy chuckled. "Yeah, I'm starving. Come on. Maybe Mom's made some post-Slaying nachos."


	5. Chapter 5

Song of Shadow

faithwinchester

Chapter Four

The walk back to the Summers' house was mostly silent. Sam was concerned, wondering if the confrontation with Kakistos had been too easy and if it had, what other problems might be lurking in the shadows. He was also trying to keep an eye on Faith, who was virtually vibrating beside him with left over adrenaline. Sooner or later she would probably have a reaction to Kakistos' death, and he wanted to make sure that he was there for her.

Buffy was also being fairly quiet and sneaking occasional glances at his pants where he had tucked the gun Faith had used. That was something Sam understood, though he wasn't sure how he and Faith were going to explain the reason he had the gun, or where he had gotten it.

He knew that he and Faith were going to have to talk about just what they were willing to admit to Buffy and her friends, and soon. He liked them so far, and he felt guilty about lying to them, but he also realized that at least some deception was necessary, and was probably always going to be. The very last thing he needed was for someone like Willow to decide to go looking for his family and lead John and Dean straight to him.

Mrs. Summers was waiting for them when they made it back to the house, sitting them all down at the table and putting a plate full of nachos in front of each of them as soon as she made sure that none of them were hurt. Then she sat down with them and proceeded to ask them whether they had run into any trouble, and just how they had taken care of it. Sam found the whole thing rather surreal, and from the expression on Faith's face, so did she.

Once the review was over and the nachos eaten Mrs. Summers gave each of them a hug, an action that had Faith making panicked faces at him over Mrs. Summers' shoulder, and told them to clean up and go to bed. It was instinct that had Sam waiting up on the couch, certain that Faith would appear sooner or later.

After about half an hour of waiting he heard Faith's hesitant footsteps padding down the stairs, and he wordlessly held up the side of his blanket so that she could slip underneath it next to him. He waited until she was comfortably tucked into his side and then slid his arm around her shoulders, never making a sound when he felt her shoulders start to shake. He just held her, pulling the blanket farther up once she was asleep.

- - - - - - - - - -

When Mrs. Summers found them like that the next morning she hadn't said a word, just shook her head with a sad smile and headed to the kitchen to make them all waffles for breakfast. Breakfast had been mostly quiet with no one quite sure what to say. The only reprieve came when it was time for Mrs. Summers to drive Buffy to school. She had offered to take Sam and Faith as well, but Faith had declined, mentioning that she wanted to walk and get a feel for the rest of the town in the daylight while she was at it.

That had made sense to both of the Summers women, so Sam and Faith had been left behind and both had breathed a small sigh of relief once they were alone.

"So, Faith, you want to go ahead and head out now or what?"

She nodded, lips curled in a distracted frown and body tense. "Yeah, Sammy. I figure we can burn off a little energy checking this town out then meet up with Buff and Jeeves at the library, maybe spar some once we get there."

Sam nodded and the two of them set out, wandering around Sunnydale in a vague circle that would end up with them at the high school. After about half an hour of somewhat tense silence Sam nudged Faith's shoulder gently, waiting for her to face him before he spoke.

"Faith, did it occur to you that it was just a little too easy to kill Kakistos?"

She nodded, shoving her hands deep in her pockets. "Yeah. I mean, it's not like I wanted it to be harder or anything, but after everything that monster did to Maddie just shooting him, fancy bullets or not, seems a little..."

"Anti-climactic?"

Faith nodded again, bumping her hip against Sam's. "Yeah. It feels like something else is just waiting to jump out and kill us when we're not looking. Like I need to be looking over my shoulder all the time."

Sam sighed. "I thought it was just me. My hackles have been up ever since we got into town, and I've got this sort of itch on my back right between my shoulder blades that feels like someone's about to stick a knife in me."

"Well we are on the Hellmouth, Sammy boy. Maybe we're just picking up evil vibes or something."

"Do you really believe that, Faith?"

After a long moment of silence she shook her head. "Nope. Not even a little bit. Something's coming, and we're gonna be right in the middle of it."

"At least we'll have help when it does come." They walked in silence for another few minutes before Sam spoke again. "What are we going to tell Buffy and the others about me? The way Buffy was looking at me after you gave me the gun back last night, I know they're going to be asking questions."

Faith sighed, shoving her hands deeper into her pockets. "Well, we can't tell 'em who you really are. They'd be too likely to try to find Dean and your dad, and that'd probably screw up the Powers plans something awful." She kicked a rock, sending it flying across the street and into a nearby cemetery. "We can probably admit that you're not my cousin, and tell 'em that the Powers sent you. That oughta be good enough for 'em."

Sam nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, it'll have to be. I can't take any chances that my vision might still come true." He glanced over towards the cemetery, visions of a gravestone with his father's name floating in his head. "I just can't."


	6. Chapter 6

Song of Shadow

faithwinchester

Chapter Five

The atmosphere in the library when Sam and Faith finally arrived was tense, and it was fairly obvious to both of them that there was something major that the others weren't telling them. Sam tried to rein in his natural curiosity, firmly telling himself that if it was something that he and Faith needed to know that they would be told, and it would be hypocritical of him to demand full disclosure when he and Faith weren't willing to do likewise.

The others all turned to stare at them when they walked in, the expressions on their faces making it pretty plain that they were thankful for the interruption. Faith was tense beside him, though Sam was fairly sure that none of the others could tell, especially when she tossed her hair back and grinned.

"So, we miss anything?"

Giles was fiddling with his glasses, but when Faith spoke he slipped them back on. "Yes, well, we were just discussing your confrontation with Kakistos last night. I understand you managed to kill him?"

Faith nodded. "Oh, yeah. He's dust in the wind, though I couldn't have done it without Sammy here."

Giles frowned. "Yes, that is what is somewhat worrying." He turned to Sam, frown growing stern. "Where on earth did you come across a firearm, young man, and what made you decide that it would make an adequate weapon against a master vampire?"

Sam sighed silently. "Mr. Giles, I understand your concern, but both Faith and I are perfectly capable of handing the gun safely. It's loaded with consecrated iron rounds that will kill just about anything that other holy items will hurt. Besides, isn't it better to use ranged weapons whenever possible so that you don't have to get nearly as close to whatever is trying to kill you?"

"That may be so, Sam, but I still do not like your using them, though I suppose there's not anything I can do to stop you." Giles sighed again and turned to Faith. "I have notified the Watcher's Council that you are safely in Sunnydale, and they have told me that they will be sending you a new Watcher as soon as possible."

Faith grimaced but nodded. "Whatever. I don't know why you can't be my Watcher, too, though. Seems like you've taken care of Buff well enough."

Giles pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "There has never before in recorded history been two Slayers at the same time, which means that Watchers are simply not trained to handle the difficulties of trying to help two Slayers properly. You need your own Watcher."

It was fairly obvious that Faith still wasn't happy, but she also realized that there wasn't anything she could do. "All right, but I reserve the right not to like 'em."

"Considering your history, Faith, that is a perfectly reasonable sentiment." Giles paused, almost like he was trying to find the right words for whatever he wanted to say. "Now that Kakistos has been...dealt with, is there anything else that we should be aware of, Faith?"

When Faith glanced at him, Sam nodded silently, giving her permission to reveal what they had decided it was safe for the others to know. Faith cocked an eyebrow in response, then crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, there is one thing, Giles. I know you guys have been suspicious of Sammy here, and if I'd been in your shoes I'd have been suspicious, too. And we have been lying to you."

Giles' expression grew dark at Faith admission. "And just what have the two of you been lying about, Faith?"

Faith bristled. "Look, it's not dangerous or anything, Jeeves. Calm down. We're not the bad guys here. It's just that Sam's not actually my cousin. We're not really related at all."

Buffy frowned, expression part confusion and part distrust. "Why did you lie about that, and if he's not your cousin then why did he come here with you in the first place?"

Sam sighed, stepping forward to take some of the attention away from Faith. "I was sent here by the Powers."

That certainly got a reaction, though not quite the one that Sam had anticipated. Buffy was frowning as if she was trying to remember something, while Willow and Xander were both obviously confused. In fact, Giles seemed to be the only one who knew the implications of what Sam had just said.

"You were sent here by the Powers?"

When Sam nodded, Giles grimaced. "And do you know why you were sent here?"

"Sort of. I don't know any specifics, but my coming here with Faith is supposed to keep something really bad from happening. Or possibly several bad things. It wasn't incredibly clear."

Giles pulled off his glasses, looking like he was trying to fight the urge to start polishing them while the others had all hopped up on the nearby table and were watching with rapt attention. "Was it a vision, or were you actually visited by a messenger?"

Sam fought back shivered, trying to force back the images from his dream that Giles' words had brought up. "It was sort of both, actually. It was a vision of an older version of me, telling me that the Powers wanted me to help them keep some really terrible things from happening. But he never told me what I was supposed to prevent."

Buffy sighed, a serious frown on her face. "I guess we'll just have to play things by ear, then. And at least we know that we can keep whatever it is from happening, since they wouldn't have sent you to stop things that you couldn't actually stop, would they?"

"No, Buffy. I doubt that the Powers would have requested his help if there was nothing that he could do." Giles sighed again. "We shall just have to keep our eyes open."

Sam blinked, trying to clear the sudden wavering in his vision. "Um, guys? I think we have a problem here." And almost instantly he dropped to his knees, eyes clenching shut as a sharp pain stabbed him in the temples and began to radiate out all along his skull.

Images flashed through his mind, and he could just barely recognize one of the parks that he and Faith had checked out on their way to the library earlier. Then there was nothing but a violent mixture of blood and fur and fangs as the pain practically exploded inside his head.

He had no idea how long it was before he could manage to open his eyes. He was kneeling on the floor, Faith crouching behind him and supporting his weight while gently rubbing his temples. Buffy was on the floor in front of him, Giles and the others standing behind her in silent support.

"Are you okay, Sam? Do you need anything?"

Sam tried to smile at Buffy, though even that slight movement hurt his face. "I wouldn't say no to a couple of painkillers. And I think you're about to have a slight werewolf problem."


End file.
